Ronda Rousey Armbars Miesha Tate to Take Strikeforce Championship

In the end, Miesha Tate
found herself in the same hopeless position as Ronda
Rousey’s first four opponents in mixed martial arts.

The undefeated Rousey submitted Tate with a first-round armbar to
win the women’s bantamweight championship in the Strikeforce “Tate
vs. Rousey” headliner on Saturday at the Nationwide Arena in
Columbus, Ohio. The reluctant tapout came 4:36 into round one, with
Tate’s left arm grotesquely hyperextended between Rousey’s
legs.

“She was much more savvy on the ground than I had anticipated,”
Rousey said. “She’s good, she’s legit, but I don’t feel that bad
about [the armbar finish].

“I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt since I kind of
started [the bad blood between us], but after the weigh-ins, when
she got in my face and I pushed her back and she said I should be
fined for head butting her ... if you’re going to try to act hard,
just follow up with it. Don’t pull back and say I should get a
fine. I thought that was kind of messed up.”

Tate held nothing back, came out firing and tagged Rousey (5-0, 3-0
SF) with a stout right hand during their opening exchange. The 2008
Olympic bronze medalist responded with the first of her two
takedowns and transitioned immediately to an armbar. Tate freed
herself and initiated a scramble that result in her taking the
decorated judoka’s back.

Eventually, they returned to their feet, and Rousey scored with a
beautiful judo throw. She then moved to mount, punched Tate (12-3,
4-2 SF) into surrendering her back and latched onto the arm again.
This time, there was no escape, and Tate’s decision not to tapout
immediately likely cost her some damage to her arm.

“[The arm] is a little sore, but I came here to put on a fight,”
she said. “I really didn’t like her, so I wanted to come out hard.
I got a little overzealous, and she caught the arm. I’ve got to
give her respect. I do respect her as an athlete.”

Rousey has finished all five of her professional opponents and all
three of her amateur opponents with armbars inside of one round.
She figures to next face former champion Sarah
Kaufman, a majority decision winner over Alexis
Davis on the undercard.

“I would welcome [the opportunity], for sure,” Rousey said. “I was
impressed with both of their performances. I’m really glad to see
the ladies bring it. Whoever the fans want to see. I feel Sarah
Kaufman got a little cheated out of this title shot, so I think
it’s the right thing to give her the next one.”

Thomson Topples Noons, Eyes Melendez

Former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson
utilized takedowns and a suffocating top game in capturing a
unanimous decision from K.J. Noons in
the co-main event. All three judges scored it the same: 29-28 for
Thomson (19-4, 9-3 SF), perhaps setting the stage for his rubber
match with Gilbert
Melendez.

Thomson struck for takedowns in all three rounds, opened a small
cut near Noons’ left eye and effectively neutralized the onetime
EliteXC champion’s considerable boxing skills. “The Punk” upped the
aggression in the third round, as he scored with a trip takedown,
locked in an arm-triangle choke and nearly finished it in the
center of the cage. Noons (11-5, 3-3 SF) escaped, only to find
himself mounted, exhausted and unable to return to an upright
position.

For Thomson, the performance left a lot to be desired.

“[My performance] was s---. How else do you explain it? It was
s---. I haven’t fought in 15 months. I tried something different
because I was always getting hurt,” he said. “The bottom line is
that I got [a] staph [infection] twice during my camp, and I
couldn’t train, so my conditioning was s--- and my fight was
s---.”

Thomson now turns his attention towards Melendez, the current
Strikeforce champion at 155 pounds. The two men have split their
two previous meetings.

“I do feel that [the rubber match with Melendez] is next,” he said.
“I’m going back to the way I used to train, and if I get hurt, I
get hurt. I’m going to go back to training super hard and super
aggressive for 12 weeks. I’m going to make sure that I whoop
Gilbert’s ass.”

Misaki Outpoints Daley, Takes Split Verdict

Kazuo
Misaki File Photo

Misaki outslugged Paul Daley.

A fearless, straightforward game plan highlighted
by clean power punching carried 2006
Pride Fighting Championships welterweight grand prix winner
Kazuo
Misaki to a split decision over Paul Daley in
a featured showdown at 170 pounds. Two of the three cageside
judges, Darryl Wise and Otto
Torriero, sided with Misaki (25-11-2, 2-0 SF) by 30-27 and
29-28 counts; a third, Justin Floor, cast a dissenting 29-28 vote
in Daley’s favor.

Misaki had Daley backpedaling in rounds one and two, stinging the
Brit with heavy counterpunches. Caught off guard by a man willing
to exchange with him, Daley, a noted striker, chose instead to move
the fight to the ground. He scored with four takedowns in the
15-minute encounter but did little damage with them -- until the
third round.

There, Daley (29-12-2, 2-3 SF) opened a gnarly cut near Misaki’s
left eye with a short elbow from the top. Blood flowed instantly,
and the cageside physician was brought in to clear the Japanese
veteran for further contact. Allowed to continue, Misaki picked up
his pace, resumed his efforts on the feet and kept Daley on his
heels.

Sayers Guillotine Finishes Smith

Lumumba
Sayers submitted former World Extreme Cagefighting champion
Scott
Smith with a first-round guillotine choke in a middleweight
showcase. Smith (17-10, 3-5 SF) asked out of the match 94 seconds
into round one.

Sayers (6-2, 1-1 SF) showed no regard for his opponent’s noted
punching power. He backed up Smith with a stout right hand roughly
half a minute into the bout and later hoisted the Californian
skyward for a powerful slam. Not long after, Smith left his neck
exposed. Sayers capitalized, locked down the choke and sent the UFC
veteran to his fourth consecutive defeat.

‘Jacare’ Choke Submits Marunde

Former Strikeforce middleweight titleholder Ronaldo
“Jacare” Souza submitted Bristol
Marunde with a third-round arm-triangle choke in a featured
matchup at 185 pounds. The tapout came 2:43 into round three.

Souza (15-3, 5-1 SF) -- a five-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world
champion and the 2005 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling
World Championships gold medalist -- established his superiority on
the feet from the outset. The 32-year-old
X-Gym representative cracked Marunde (12-7, 0-1 SF) with a
counter right hand in the first round, wobbled him with a left hook
in the second and mixed in takedowns throughout.

In the third period, Souza scored with a takedown, moved to
Marunde’s back and trapped the American in the fight-ending choke
when he turned to face him on the ground. From there, the
submission was a formality, and Marunde, a late replacement for
Derek
Brunson, saw his four-fight winning streak grind to a halt.

Souza did not hide his desire for a rematch with the man who
dethroned him, reigning Strikeforce
middleweight champion Luke
Rockhold.

“Our last fight was pretty close. Anyone who saw the fight knows it
was a very close fight,” he said through a translator. “I deserve
another chance at the belt, and I want it bad.”